Have You Ever Read The Whole Lease?
OK, so it looks intimidating and long not to mention full of all sorts of lawyereze that makes no sense. Anyway, why should you spend the time reading the lease? After all, the landlord, AND your broker told you it was the Landlord’s standard lease and that EVERYONE signs it.
Can you say RED FLAG!!!
Stop The Presses!
We certainly hope YOUR broker didn’t say that!. Unfortunately, it happens too often. They don’t want to read the leases either. All they are usually concerned about is the business points; or at least their definition of the business points. Things like start date, lease rates, square footage, parking and maybe tenant improvement allowances are important to them not to mention the critical item called COMMISSION. If you do read the lease and ask questions, your broker may not know the answer to your technical question which could lead them to do the unthinkable…sincerely recommend you take the lease to an attorney. Oh No!!! Not that! All the attorney will do is ripe the lease to shreds, charge you a nice fee, and maybe even nix the deal (bye bye commission).
But the reality is you should do two things. Read the lease completely and have your attorney read it. If there are problems or issues, you need to know about them up front.
A lease is typically made up of over 35-40 separate sections. Each can impact you significantly if not negotiated in your favor.
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